On This Day In Judy Garland’s Life And Career – March 1

“I have very much to be thankful for. I’m a lucky girl. I mean that. There’s just enough Black Irish in me to believe in luck.” – Judy Garland, 1962.

March 1, 1929: “The Ledger-Gazette” (Lancaster, California) announced that: “Mrs. Frank Gumm and daughters leave next week for Los Angeles where they will reside indefinitely in order that the girls may pursue special studies. They will spend their weekends in Lancaster, Mrs. Gumm furnishing the music at the theater [the Valley Theater, run by Frank]. Mr. Gumm will continue to reside at the family home on Cedar Avenue.”

Judy, her mother, and sisters moved into an upstairs apartment at 1814 1/2 South Orchard, near Washington Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, near the downtown Los Angeles theatrical district.

It was also around this time that Judy, as “Baby Frances Ethel Gumm” was the twelfth runner-up in the seventh annual “Better Babies Exposition/Contest” put on by “The Los Angeles Evening Express” newspaper at the Broadway Department Store in Los Angeles, California. Judy also received “honorable mention” in the talent contest, winning at $10.00 gift certificate from the store. The exact date is unknown. The paper is now defunct so the archives are unavailable. In his book, “Judy Garland The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend” Garland historian Scott Schechter gave the date of this contest as February 29, 1929, but 1929 was not a leap year. The event couldn’t have taken place on the 28th as Judy was in Lancaster with her family participating in a school play. The participation in the contest must have been in early March after Judy, her mom, and sisters relocated to Los Angeles.

March 1, 1934: The first of a four-night engagement for “The Gumm sisters” (Judy and her sisters) at the Orpheum Theater in Spokane, Washington. The local “Spokesman-Review” noted: “The Three Gumm Sisters are harmony singers in a dainty bit of vocal entertainment that features the youngster of the lot in a clever imitation of Helen Morgan. The crowd gave the girls a great hand.”

March 1, 1940: Newspapers reported on the previous night’s Academy Awards ceremony in which Judy won her only Academy Award for the “Best Performance By A Juvenile during the past year” (1939) for her work in both The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Arms. Although Judy wasn’t one of the “big winners” she was mentioned and her photo featured in most of the articles.

Oz also won Oscars for “Best Song” and “Best Original Score.” It was nominated for “Best Picture”‘ “Best Art Direction”; “Best Cinematography – Color”; (losing to Gone With The Wind on all three); and “Best Visual Effects” (losing to “The Rains Came”).

Judy would go on to be nominated twice: As “Best Actress” for A Star Is Born (1954) and “Best Supporting Actress” for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).

March 1, 1942: Two items. The first is a rather basic piece of fluff about how Judy “gets a kick out of being grown up (with a bit of her Judy history included), and the second article notes that the Army’s favorite song was “Zing! Go [Went] The Strings Of My Heart.” Judy had just completed a very successful tour of Army camps and although there is no record as to exactly what the song lineup was, this listing of songs looks like it could be a listing of what she sang. They’re all certainly songs that Judy would have had in her repertoire.

March 1, 1944: The assistant director’s reports for Meet Me In St. Louis note: “At 5:05 last night, when company was finished shooting, Miss Garland told Al Jennings, assistant director, that she would be indisposed and unable to come in tomorrow. Due to Joan Carroll’s illness, company is unable to shoot today and had planned to rehearse. Miss Garland being unavailable, rehearsal was canceled and company is on layoff today.”

March 1, 1945: Filming continued on The Harvey Girls on the “Interior Alhambra” set. Time called: 1:00 p.m.; Judy arrived at 1:10 p.m.; dismissed: 5:12 p.m. The assistant director’s reports note: “5:10-5:12 – Time Lost in Discussion Miss Garland told assistant director she was il and would have to go to her room to lie down but might be back in 15 minutes; director decided to setup on an over shoulder shot of Susan and Em.” That night producer Arthur Freed’s assistant Don Loper held a betrothal dinner for Judy and Vincente Minnelli.

March 1, 1945: Judy had a B-92 Bomber named after her! The connection was her previous hometown of Lancaster, California, where she and her family lived prior to permanently locating to Los Angeles. Judy was allegedly notified of the honor by her past school chum, now a Captain, Jack Stege.

At this time, Meet Me In St. Louis was still a huge hit and was being held over in most markets. The film charmed everyone. Above is a four-page notice placed by MGM in various trade magazines.

March 1, 1946: Judy, even in period garb, was a fashion trendsetter. Well, at least that’s what this article indicates. Left to her own devices, Judy was never known for keen fashion sense. Luckily she (usually) had people around her to help her out!

March 1, 1947: According to “Billboard” magazine published on February 22, 1947, this is the date that MGM Records released its first shipment of 78rpm discs, the original soundtrack album to Till The Clouds Roll By, Record Number MGM-1.

Prior to 1947, the only soundtrack performances available to the public were a couple of 78s from RCA Records of selections from Walt Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937), and a few commemorative 78s in 1933 with parts of Max Steiner’s ground-breaking score for King Kong (RKO – 1933). But neither of these were released as “cast” or “soundtrack” albums.

March 1, 1951: This is the approximate date that Judy’s recorded a guest appearance on the CBS Radio show, “The Bing Crosby Show.” The show was pre-recorded, as all of Bing’s show were, a few weeks in advance of the broadcast date, in this case, the broadcast was March14, 1951. Judy sang “When You’re Smiling.”

This show is not to be confused with her guest appearance recorded on March 14th but not broadcast until March 28th.

March 1, 1953: Here’s an early notice about the upcoming production of A Star Is Born. Judy stated that she was going to diet responsibly. Columnists at the time remarked about whether Judy was going to be able to become “camera thin” for the film which for Judy usually meant unhealthy crash diets and pills.

I do not know who created the wonderful artwork above. If anyone knows, please advise. It’s great!

March 1, 1953: The booze-fueled accident that Sid was involved in on September 30, 1951, was finally settled, at least for one plaintiff.

At 2 a.m., on September 30, 1951, Sid Luft was involved in a minor car accident. Judy ran to the scene. No one was seriously hurt. Sid, who was drunk, ran a red light and hit a car being driven by Allan Gordon Thompson and he, in turn, hit the car driven by Charles T. Neale. Sid was booked on a drunk driving charge and released on $100 bail. The newspapers reported that both Judy and Sid “took one punch each” at two men. Sid punched the witness, Dr. Rubin Larson, who got out of his car to see what was happening. Neale was arguing with Sid about whether he should stay at the scene and wait for the police to file a report. Judy became agitated and punched him in the nose, breaking his glasses.

March 1, 1954: Judy pre-recorded “Lose That Long Face” for A Star Is Born. Time started: 1:40 p.m.; finished: 4:50 p.m.

The number and its reprise were cut from the film by Warner Bros. when they decided it was too long. Luckily, it was found and restored in 1983 by Ron Haver when he reconstructed the film.

Originally there were an additional 28 seconds of additional lyrics sung by Judy and jazz singer Monette Moore that were thought lost until recently rediscovered.

Note: The video above is the “extended” take showing the full scene, the video below is the trimmed “song only” version.

March 1, 1962: Judy is the “Happiest in Years” according to Vernon Scott.

She was 40 years old, the toast of television, an Academy Award nominee . . . and back from the living dead.

JUDY GARLAND

The most exciting 24 hours of her life took place early this week when critics extolled her CBS-TV show, and less than half a day later she was nominated as the best supporting actress of 1961 for her role in “Judgment At Nuremberg.”

Only five years ago Judy, the child star of “The Wizard of Oz” and dozens of other movie musicals, was washed up in show business.

Now, after a courageous battle to regain the respect of fellow performers and the applause of the public, Judy is a trifle limp.

“I GUESS I’ll react to all the excitement in a few days,” she said during a noon break on her new movie, “A Child is Waiting.”

“I’m three frames out of synchronization. This is the most thrilling moment of my professional life. I’m still anesthetized.”

“I was surprised at being nominated for the Oscar. I’m sure I won’t get it, but it certainly is an Honore. Once before, from ‘A Star Is Born,’ I was nominated. I didn’t win that year.”

“But I am very happy about the nomination, and on top of that the wonderful reception of my television show has given me a real thrill.”

“Not very long ago I would never have dreamed that I would be seeing all this. If I thought about being nominated for anything it would have been for ‘first in the unemployment line’ award.”

JUDY HAS LOST weight and gained confidence in herself. She looks better than she has in the past 10 years. Her nervousness has evaporated and she smiles easily.

“Psychologically and physically I’ve never been in better shape,” she said, sipping a cup of coffee.

“My voice is better now than I can ever remember. I have more strength and control. The fact that I am a very happy woman has had a great deal to do with my comeback.”

When Judy completes her role opposite Burt Lancaster in the Stanley Kramer production she and her husband, Sid Luft, will vacation in Mexico or Span.

Thereafter she will go to England to star in a new picture, “The Lonely Stage.” Judy also has two other pictures in the works and a television show for next season.

“I GUESS I’M most proud about my daughter, Liza,” Judy said.

“This summer she will appear in Israel, Greece, and Rome in a stage version of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ She is a wonderful actress. It’s hard to believe she is 16 years old. The time goes by so quickly.”

“But I have very must to be thankful for. I’m a lucky girl. I mean that. There’s just enough Black Irish in me to believe in luck.”

March 1, 1963: Get one of these Decca albums when you send in just one dollar and the front panel of a Ronco Spaghetti package! Included is the option to purchase the Decca compilation LP “Open House.”

March 1, 1964: “Episode Ten” of “The Judy Garland Show” aired on CBS-TV. The show was taped on October 11, 1963, at CBS Television City, Stage 43, Hollywood, CA.

Judy’s guests were Ray Bolger and Jane Powell, and series regular Jerry Van Dyke; this was his final show – he was fired from the series. Judy’s songs included: “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do”; “Be My Guest” (with Bolger, Powell, and Van Dyke); “That’s All”; “One For My Baby” (comedy version with Van Dyke and company); “Romantic Duets Medley” with Powel and Van Dyke – Judy sang: “Romantic Duets” with Powell; lip-synched “I Remember It Well” and “Will You Remember? (Sweetheart)” with Van Dyke; then the three ended the medley by singing “All Aboard For Movieland”); “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” (with Bolger dancing); “If I Only Had A Brain” and “We’re Off To See The Wizard” with Bolger during the “Tea For Two” segment; and “The Jitterbug” (with Bolger, Powell, and dancers). For the “Born In A Trunk” spot, Judy sang “When Your Lover Has Gone,” “Some People,” and, the closer, “Maybe I’ll Come Back.”

March 1, 1964: Judy’s recent fall and injury in her hotel in New York were reported on again, accompanied by this nice photo of Judy with daughter Lorna and son Joe.

March 1, 1967: At 12:21 a.m. Judy arrived in New York on TWA Flight #8, with son Joe; Lorna was flying later with Sid; Liza and her best friend Pam Rhinehart met Judy’s plane, and Judy’s limo took them all back to the St. Regis Hotel.

Photo: A snapshot of Judy during her “Palace Concert Tour” in late 1967.

March 1, 2001: “Over the Rainbow” was named the top song of the 20th Century! The distinction was the result of a joint poll conducted by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Also on this day was this blurb about Sid Luft’s reaction to the recent hit TV miniseries “Life With Judy Garland” and Victor Garber’s portrayal of him. Needless to say, Sid wasn’t happy about it!

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2 comments

Wow. Sid really shines in today’s entry – drunk driving, punching out a dentist. And I just adore his quote at age 85 regarding his 52 year-old wife. He points out that she was a 52 year-old flight attendant (who was undoubtedly supporting HIM).

And a dozen peanut butter cookies YOUR way, for posting double!! Many thanks.